


Changing the Champion

by everlovingdeer



Series: Harry Potter Short Stories [10]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, In chapter 2, Prophetic Dreams, Triwizard Tournament, not much angst tho
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-27
Updated: 2019-08-27
Packaged: 2020-09-28 01:49:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20417894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/everlovingdeer/pseuds/everlovingdeer
Summary: “Of course.” He slid his arms around my waist and I reached up to loop my arms around his neck. “Did I tell you that you look beautiful?”“Only every time that you’ve approached me tonight.” He grinned down at me and pulled me closer, “Which by the way has been a lot.”





	1. Changing the Champion

**Author's Note:**

> Originally uploaded to ff.net and wattpad on 23/11/2013 and mostly untouched since

"Are you alright sweetheart?"

I let out a sigh at the sound of the question. It’s not as if I was a child who couldn’t look after themselves at a quidditch match. I would be fine but as far as my mother was concerned I might as well have been a train wreck.

“Mum, I’m fine.” She didn’t need to know that I was lying through my teeth. 

Mum came and sat down next to me at the table. I was eating breakfast, waiting for Dad to come downstairs so that the two of us could leave for the world cup. Mum poured me a cup of tea and handed it over to me. I took it with two hands and raised the cup to my lips.

“Did you dream of anything?” She enquired as she buttered her toast, watching me from the corner of her eye. I watched her closely, knowing where she was going with this.

“No Mum I didn’t.”

But I had. I couldn’t tell her that I had though because if I did then everything would become so much worse than it was destined to be. It was my burden to bear and if I attempted to share my burden with someone else then there would be consequences. 

“Come on sweetheart,” Dad called out as he reached the bottom of the stairs and picked up my backpack as well as his own. “We’ll be late otherwise.”

Rising from my chair at the table, I took my backpack from him and slung it over my shoulder. Waving a quick goodbye to my mother I followed Dad out of the house. We continued to walk until our home faded into the background and we entered a forest.

I didn’t think that I was made for going on long treks. Dad was already far ahead of me and I couldn’t keep up with his fast-paced steps. It didn’t help that his legs were almost twice as long as mine. Walking quickly I moved to catch up to him as he slowed his pace down considerably in order to match mine.

“Remind me again,” I said as we approached yet another tree. “Who are we supposed to be meeting here?”

“Some of the people I work within the ministry; Arthur Weasley and Amos Diggory.”

“And they’ll be bringing their kids as well right?” I asked, knowing how bored I would be if I was the only younger person with the three adult men.

“That’s what they said.”

If Arthur Weasley was coming then that meant that some of his children would be coming but which ones? Perhaps the younger ones? And wherever Ron was he always took the opportunity to take Hermione and Harry along with him. It was almost guaranteed that where Amos Diggory went he dragged his son alongside him. 

Cedric Diggory. Every girl knew of the Hogwarts heartthrob and golden boy. Both titles that he had rightfully earned. He stood over 6ft tall, towering only a couple of inches above the Weasley twins. With the chiselled features that were paired with dark hair and grey eyes he was often perceived as a "pretty boy". Yet with an aptitude for charms, transfiguration and DADA, it was clear that he was rather bright. This paired with the fact that he was quidditch captain; seeker, as well as his title of prefect, gave him his golden boy status.

Dad and I continued to walk and I wondered how in Merlin’s name Dad knew where to go if everything looked the same. He suddenly stopped and waved a hand in the air. Looking ahead of us I saw the Weasleys. Whilst Dad talked to Mr Weasley I headed straight towards Hermione. 

Our trek continued until we met up with Mr Diggory. A sudden blur fell from the tree. Seconds later we found out that the blur was, in fact, a boy. It was Cedric to be precise. Ginny, Hermione and I shared a look as we turned to look at Cedric who gave us all a charming grin.

The three adults were keen to set off once again and they led us to a portkey. I held in a groan knowing that I would only just land flat on my back once again. Thankfully when I did land on my back the twins were quick to help hoist me up.

But then came another trek. Granted that walking to our tents might not have been as long as the trek to the portkey had been but it was just as bad. There was a huge crowd of people that was difficult to navigate through.

We eventually found our tents and settled down. It was only then that I allowed my thoughts to address the ache I felt. 

The pain of knowing that something was going to happen was like a dull ache that I needed to pretend wasn’t there. The ache would continue to grow until it all came hurtling out of me. Except it wasn’t allowed to come out. If it did then everything would become so much worse and it would only be my fault for dragging other people into it.

But there were some instances where the pain became so extreme that I took to digging my fingernails into my palms just to ease it up. If you looked at my palms you would be able to see nail shaped scars. But it helped to ease up the pain. Even the slightest bit so that it became bearable. 

It took all of my self-control to distract myself from the pain at the back of my skull and that would often lead to my downfall. Because I was so distracted the truth or parts of the truth would come spilling out when someone tried to talk to me about it.

This was one of those instances. Mr Weasley had approached me, his concern for me evident on his face as he asked, “What’s the matter?”

But that was the worst thing to ask. Especially because he knew what I was. 

“Something’s going to happen.”

The moment those words left my mouth I wanted to slap myself. How could I have possibly let myself get so weak? I tried to rationalise that it wouldn’t be so bad. I hadn’t specifically told him what would happen just that something would happen. That wasn’t so bad, was it? Except it was and I knew it was.

Mr Weasley, kind-hearted Mr Weasley, took my announcement in stride but I knew that he was making plans. But what type of plans would he be able to make when he had no idea what was going to happen? And there was no way that I was going to tell him and risk something even worse happening.

* * *

My attempt to convince myself that nothing worse would happen was wrong because it did get worse. The scene before me wasn’t one that I had seen in my dream. I was crouching behind a tent in order to stay hidden from view as I saw a man standing with his wand aimed at a woman who was crumbled at his feet.

“Where is he?” The unknown man demanded harshly.

“I don’t know,” The woman responded pleadingly.

She looked up at him, giving me a clear view of her tear-stained face. Four newly made vertical cuts were drawn down her cheeks and the eyes that should have been filled with youth were hollow.

"Wrong answer mudblood," He hissed. "Crucio!"

She collapsed to the floor once again, only now she was withering in agony. Her shrieks echoed around the open space as I covered my ears in an attempt to block it out. But it didn’t work I could still hear her. I had caused this.

"Where is the boy?" He demanded lifting the curse momentarily.

"I-I swear. I have no idea where he is.”

"Crucio!" He repeated the curse over and over, laughing as her terrorised cries grew in volume. 

Each of her shrieks felt like daggers piercing my heart. If I hadn’t said anything to Mr Weasley then this random woman wouldn’t have had to suffer through this. I should have kept my mouth shut. 

Then a faint voice could be heard. "Mr Crouch, there's a woman over there."

The man didn't hesitate, lifting his wand he muttered "Avada kedavra" and the woman's life ended, her face showing nothing but fear and pain. I closed my eyes, trying to erase the scene from my memory but her face remained engrained onto the back of my eyelid. I opened my eyes and saw the lifeless body of the woman. I couldn’t escape her. 

The man began to walk away and the Gryffindor in me wanted to follow. After all, I'd caused this. I killed this woman. But as soon as I'd stepped away from the tent, a hand covered my mouth and an arm wrapped around my waist. I began to struggle and scream but it came out muffled.

A part of me knew that it was pointless to struggle but I wasn't going down that easily. I tried to quick at the person holding me. From the hardness of the chest pressed against my back, I assumed that it was either a man or a flat-chested woman. All it would take was one well-aimed kick between the legs either way – 

“Calm down,” a voice muttered into my ear and I stopped my struggling, recognising the voice slightly. “It’s only me.”

Opening my eyes I saw Cedric standing behind me. He scanned the area around us before crouching down suddenly and pulling me down with him. “What are you doing here?”

“Looking for you. Almost everyone else was able to find each other but you got lost somehow – your Dad’s going insane.”

I looked at him closely, “Are you an idiot?”

He raised an eyebrow at my question. "I've been told I'm not."

"Then are you insane?" I asked in a heated whisper, lowering my volume when I remembered that we weren’t the only people here.

"No," came his slightly confused answer.

"Well, I'm seriously beginning to doubt that," I muttered. Then said aloud. "You left the safety of the other wizards and voluntarily came here? To find me? Why?"

"It was the right thing to do." He went silent quickly, a hand reaching out to cover my mouth as footsteps drew closer and he let me go as they walked away.

Taking his hand away from my mouth I asked, "Are you sure that you were sorted into the right house?"

"Yes, why?"

"Because this is Gryffindor bravery."

He looked amused. “Tell me then, what’s the difference between Gryffindor bravery and normal bravery?”

I looked around to see if the coast was clear and when it was I stood up and he did the same. “For your information, Gryffindor bravery is stupid and reckless.” I looked over his shoulder and caught sight of a familiar black mop. “Harry!”

* * *

Everything had seemed to return to normal after the world cup. Classes were the same bore but I was still struggling to get the woman’s face out of my mind. But I pushed through it to make sure that no one knew of my inner turmoil. 

"I'll catch up with you later," I said, casting a glance at Harry who sent me a concerned look but nodded anyway. I needed time alone from everyone.

Sitting in a secluded corner of the library, I fought to get the images out of my head. I gripped my quill tighter in response, as that woman's screams echoed through my head. It was my fault, I caused her death. Letting out a hissed breath I tried to write my next word but the quill trembled in my hold. Setting it aside I put my head into my hands.

"Hey, what's wrong?" I looked up at the question and watched as Cedric slid into the chair across from me. I turned back to the parchment in front of me and picked up my quill once again.

"It’s nothing." I didn't glance up from the parchment, knowing that my eyes were red. Before I could finish my sentence, his hand took my quill away and forced me to look up.

"I know that we haven't known each other for long," he said, his voice full of compassion. "But I know something's wrong. What is it?"

“It’s nothing Cedric I just-”

“You finally called me by my first name,” he said smiling a smile that was meant to encourage me to do the same. He moved from sitting across from me to sit beside me.

“This is serious Cedric.” He straightened up at my tone. “Not a lot of people know this but I’m a seer. I get glimpses of the future in my dreams but I can’t tell anyone what I see. I know that if I do tell someone that everything will become so much worse.” I wiped at the tear stains that were still on my cheeks furiously. 

"That can't be possible. There's no way you can make it worse just by telling someone what you saw.”

“I told Mr Weasley at the world cup that something was going to happen and in response, I saw a woman murdered before my eyes.” I choked back a sob as I remembered the woman’s eyes. His arm went around my shoulder to turn me into his chest. “If I had kept my mouth shut then she’d still be alive.”

“There’s no way for you to know that for sure.” He rubbed at my back slowly. “You said that not a lot of people know that you’re a seer, how many people do know?”

I pulled away from him and wiped away all of my tears. “The teachers here at Hogwarts, my parents, Mr and Mrs Weasley and now you.”

“Well, then I feel flattered to be the only young person that you trust enough to tell.” I heard the smirk before I saw it on his face, “But then again I do have that effect on girls.”

“What effect?” I asked with a raised eyebrow. “Physical repulsion?”

“Very funny.” I hid a smile as he pouted at me. “Now tell me, what’s your opinion on the Triwizard tournament?”

“Why?” I gave him a disbelieving look, “You’re not thinking about entering it are you?”

* * *

He stopped me in the middle of the corridor after the date for the first task had been announced and pulled me aside. I looked up at Cedric and saw that he was visibly nervous. 

“What’s the matter?”

“Have you been having any dreams about the first task?” Ah, that was it. I had but he didn’t need to know that.

“I already told you when you entered the tournament that I wouldn’t help you cheat.”

“Don’t think of it as cheating,” he said with a charming grin. I rolled my eyes. “Just think of it as … helping me.”

“Cedric, I do know what the task is,” I said with a sigh. “But no, I’m not going to hint to you what it’s about.”

“But-” 

I shook my head and he fell silent instantly with a pout. Giving him a smile I turned to walk into the hospital wing. I had asked to learn about healing burns but no one needed to know why. This way I could help without risking someone’s fate being so much worse as a result of my blabby mouth.

* * *

I had been sitting in the stands watching the first task when Madam Pomfrey had taken me from my seat and ushered me into the tent. Looking over at Cedric as he lied down on one of the prepared medical beds, I headed over towards him as Madam Pomfrey dealt with someone else.

“How the hell did you get burnt so badly?” I asked as I made my way over towards him. Seeing me Cedric tried to move to get up but grimaced at the pain.

“How bad is it?” He asked with a wince as I peeled away some of the fabric from his shirt away from the burn. 

Turning away from him I began to prepare the paste. Once it was prepared I started to apply the paste to the burns on the side of his face. “They’re not that bad. You’re still as handsome as ever.”

“That’s a relief,” he said with a cheeky smile as I handed him the burn paste.

“Put the paste on the burns on your chest.”

“Why?” He asked with a gesture towards his now naked chest. He then winced at the pain that followed the movement. “Do I distract you?”

I rolled my eyes. It was a miracle that the boy could still walk around with such a big head. “It’s nothing to get worked up over.”

He gave a shout of protest in response and I held back a laugh. 

* * *

Cedric was gaining the habit of stopping me in the middle of the corridor when he needed to talk to me. This time he had thankfully stopped me in the middle of a fairly empty corridor and so I didn’t have to hear the complaints of people behind me for blocking the way.

“Are you going to the yule ball?” Was the first thing that he said when he had stopped me. 

"Yes."

"Who with?"

"Anthony Goldstein. What about you? Who are you going with?" I asked glaring at a passing boy when I caught sight of the "Potter Stinks" badge that he was wearing. Some people were sheep – they just followed along with the trends because they had no opinions of their own. That boy was a sheep.

"I don't know yet." I turned back to look at Cedric.

"Well, any girl would say yes to you. I mean you are Hogwarts Heartthrob." I smiled as he cringed at the name. He’d told me of his hatred of the nickname.

"Well, what if the girl I wanted to ask already has a date?" He shoved his hands into his trouser pockets.

"Then go with a friend Ced." I smiled at him as I turned to leave. “I have to go or Snape will kill me.”

"Save me a dance at the ball," he called after me as I walked down the corridor.

"Of course," I called back over my shoulder, watching him chew the inside of his cheek, obviously deep in thought.

* * *

If you had asked me then I would tell you that the Yule ball was perfect. Or rather it _had_ been perfect until I had spotted Hermione running out of the great hall, obviously struggling to hold back her tears. I looked back at Anthony who had followed my gaze.

“You want to go talk to her don’t you?” He guessed as he stopped dancing and I did the same.

“You don’t mind, do you?” I asked with a sheepish smile and he shook his head. “Thanks.”

“Take as long as you want. I’ll be waiting for you when you come back.” 

“Thanks, Anthony.” 

I gave him another smile before turning and lifting the hem of my dress so that it was easier for me to run. Coming out of the great hall I looked around for any sign of Hermione, wondering if she had maybe run back to the common room. I found her sitting on the steps and made my way over to her.

She looked up at the sound of my shoes against the floor. Giving her a small smile I sat down beside her on the step. Hermione tried to give me a weak smile and set her head on my shoulder. I put my head on top of hers.

“Hermione,” I said quietly as she wiped away some of her tears, “I’m guessing that Ron said something?”

She nodded, “Yeah it was.”

“That boy,” I muttered. “Are you really going to let Ron spoil this night for you?”

She lifted her head from my shoulder and stood up. Dusting off the imaginary creases of her dress she looked down at me. Rising to my feet I looked at the determined set of her jaw.

“No,” she said firmly. “I’m not going to let a boy spoil this for me.”

"That's more like it. Come on, I'm sure Viktor's concerned."

We made our way back into the great hall and as soon as we head entered the room Viktor spotted Hermione and walked up to the two of us. He bowed to me, extending a hand towards Hermione. She set her hand in his and allowed him to escort her away. 

Looking around the room I found Anthony talking to some of his friends. Making eye contact with me, he waved me over and I smiled, turning to walk towards him.

“Now where do you think you’re going?” Cedric asked from somewhere behind me.

I turned around to face him. “I was going to Anthony.”

“Not yet.” He stepped forward to take hold of my hand. “You promised me a dance and if you go back to your date then who knows when I’ll get another shot.”

He started to lead me into the centre of the dance floor. I rolled my eyes and followed after him. “Alright Cedric but only one dance.”

“Of course.” He slid his arms around my waist and I reached up to loop my arms around his neck. “Did I tell you that you look beautiful?”

“Only every time that you’ve approached me tonight.” He grinned down at me and pulled me closer, “Which by the way has been a lot.”

We drifted into silence as we rocked slowly from side to side. Sometime later I looked around noticing that there were only a few people remaining in the great hall. I had no idea how long the two of us had been dancing. I went to pull away from him but his hold on me stopped me from moving far.

“What’s the matter?” He asked quietly as I continued to glance around.

“We agreed on one dance,” I muttered still looking around, “Cho’s already left the ball, who knows how long I distracted her date for. Merlin, she must be so annoyed at me.”

“I’m sure she’s fine,” He reassured me, pulling me towards him again. He easily persuaded me to wrap my arms around his neck again and he leaned down to murmur in my ear, “Your date’s glaring daggers at me right now.”

“But we came as friends,” I protested quietly, afraid to speak too loudly in case I shattered the entire atmosphere surrounding the two of us. 

“Something tells me that he didn’t come here with the intention of leaving the ball as just friends.” He straightened back up and his eyes flickered in the direction of the ceiling. “Look up.”

I did as I was told and glanced up at the ceiling. Mistletoe. Looking back at Cedric I caught the cheeky grin he was giving me. Rising onto my toes, even in these heels, I pressed a kiss to his cheek. When I set my heel back onto the ground his arms dropped from around my waist and I removed mine from his neck.

“Goodnight Cedric,” I said quietly.

* * *

I’d told Dumbledore when he’d asked me to be a hostage for the second task that it was a bad idea and as I came up coughing for air I knew that I had been right. It was freezing. I shivered violently as arms wrapped around my waist to steady me.

“It’s alright, I’ve got you.” 

I turned to look into Cedric’s beaming face and he squeezed his arms around me once. We swam towards the platform and I took the hand that Neville offered to me to help me up. When I had made it to the top of the ladder and onto the platform Seamus wrapped me in a towel as I fought off the cold. Looking back at the water I watched as Hermione surfaced alongside Viktor. She was wrapped up in a towel as well and stood beside me as we searched the water for Harry.

“Where is he?” She muttered as I pulled the towel tighter around me.

“He’ll be fine,” Cedric reassured me from beside me.

I shivered again and Cedric grabbed another towel and wrapped it around me. Smiling up at him in thanks I missed Harry as he shot out of the water. At the sound of violent coughing, I turned to see Harry sprawled across the platform. When we knew that Harry was fine everyone turned to face Dumbledore. 

“The challenge was to retrieve what the champions would miss the most-” 

His words resonated through my mind and I shook them away.

“First place; Cedric Diggory!” Dumbledore announced.

Following his announcement, Cedric pulled me into his arms. He spun me through the air and I laughed momentarily forgetting about the cold. He let out a shout of delight, which was mirrored by the eruption of cheers from the Hogwarts students when I was back on the ground.

* * *

Cedric was going to die.

I sat up in my bed, feeling my pyjamas stick to my sweat-drenched body. Setting my head into my hand and rubbed at my face. I had to do something – Cedric couldn’t die. Getting out of bed I had a quick shower and then glanced at the clock. The library should be open by now.

When I made it to the library I headed straight for the section that I knew would be of the most useful to me. Pulling out a book about protection charms I scanned through the book for a charm that wouldn’t break the rules of the tournament.

I let out a sigh as I turned the page, my hand still trembling as the image of his dead body filled my mind. This had to work.

* * *

It was the morning before the third task and from the night that I had had that dream, I was on edge. I was so cautious not to mention a word of my dream to anyone because I couldn’t risk the chance of my dream becoming worse. I didn’t think that there could be a worse but I wasn’t willing to find out. 

It was Seamus’ exclamation of “She’ll wear red!” that pulled me from my thoughts as I looked across the Gryffindor table to the two boys arguing. Nicholas, Cedric’s best friend was stood beside Seamus arguing with him and I looked at the pots of face paint held in both boys’ hands and rolled my eyes. _Honestly_.

“No, she’ll wear yellow!” Nicholas insisted.

“She’s a Gryffindor!”

“But she’s the person Cedric would miss the most!” I rolled my eyes.

“Boys!” They both stopped their arguing to look at me. “Since you’re both arguing about me why don’t you let _me _decide what colour I’ll wear?”

“Tell him that you’ll wear red!” Seamus thrust the red face pain towards me from across the table.

“No!” Nicholas reached over Seamus to hold the yellow face paint out to me. “Tell _him _you’ll wear yellow.”

Giving them both a look I dipped a finger into the red face paint and painted a line on each of my cheeks. Seamus beamed at me. But his triumphant look faded when I did the same thing with the yellow.

“There, are you both happy now?”

Without giving them the opportunity to answer me I stood up from the Gryffindor table. I needed to find Cedric and give him the charm. I’d already found Harry in the common room and had wished him luck and reminded him to be careful. I needed to find Cedric before the task began.

Walking to the Hufflepuff common room I found him sitting alone on the stairs that led down to the common room. I sat down beside him and he glanced up at me.

“Hey, Cedric.”

“Hi.” A smile tugged at his lips once he’d seen the stripes on my cheek. “I see Nicholas got to you.”

“So did Seamus.” I put a hand on his arm when he looked away from me again. “Nervous?”

“Does it show that much?”

“A little bit.” I smiled at his expression. “But maybe I can just see it because I know what to look for.”

“Maybe.” He agreed.

“I actually came to wish you good luck and to give you a good luck charm.” 

He was looking at me again as I reached into my pocket and pulled out the simple necklace. Holding out his palm for the necklace, he looped it around his neck and only I caught the faint glow it gave off when it made contact with his skin. I breathed out a sigh of relief – it worked.

“Thanks.” He grinned but it soon turned mischievous and I rolled my eyes knowing what sort of turn his mind was going at. “But you do know that a kiss would work just as well.”

“I doubt it.” 

He offered his cheek to me and I moved closer to him on the step, to kiss his cheek. He turned his head at the final moment, his hand coming up to frame the back of my neck and stop me from moving away from him. 

“Oh I’m sorry,” a voice said knowingly making Cedric’s hand drop back to his side and allowing me to pull away from him. I looked at his dad who had just emerged out of the Hufflepuff common room and was looking between the two of us. “I didn’t mean to interrupt you.”

“No, no it’s fine sir.” I scrambled to my feet as colour flooded my cheeks, not meeting Cedric’s searching eyes. “I mean you weren’t interrupting anything. I’m just going to go now.”

I turned and walked away, refusing to let the kiss cloud my mind.

* * *

They were going into the maze. Letting out a deep breath to calm my nerves I clutched at the hand that was nearest to me.

“Ease up a bit,” a voice muttered into my ear, “They’ll be fine. Dumbledore wouldn’t let anything happen.” If only you knew I thought before looking down at the vice-like grip that I had on Seamus’ hand.

“Sorry,” I said sending him an apologetic smile as I loosened my grip.

Looking down at the champions I watched as Cedric sent a look in the direction of the stand that I had been sitting in. Merlin, let him live.

The champions had all entered the maze and I was sitting down on the stand. My head was buried in my hands and I was praying to whoever would listen to make sure they all arrived safely. There was a sudden round of cheers but I didn’t lookup.

“Look it’s Harry!” Seamus exclaimed. If it was Harry then Cedric –

I stood up instantly, looking down at Harry who was crouching over Cedric’s body. The blood drained from my face. No. This wasn’t supposed to happen. I had been so careful to – 

Pushing my way out of the stands I wove through the crowd of people until I reached his body. Distantly I heard Mr Diggory crying out for Cedric as I knelt beside him. My hand moved to try and find a pulse. There beneath my index and middle finger was the steady but faint beat.

He was alive. I collapsed against his body as they announced that he was in fact alive. Burying my head into his shoulder I let the relieved tears fall freely. 

* * *

It was becoming a practice for me to visit the hospital wing every day to see whether he had woken up or not. So far he hadn’t been awake. But when I went to go see him today he was awake when I walked into the hospital wing. He was leaning against the pillows, looking bored.

When I approached the bed and he saw me, he grinned. I was taken aback by the sheer force of the happiness I felt at seeing him awake. He motioned for me to sit on the side of the bed beside him.

“Your kiss worked,” he said once I had sat down.

“What are you talking about?”

“Your good luck kiss - it worked.” At my enquiring look, he went off on a story about his encounter with Voldemort. Of course, I already knew what had happened – I had seen it in my dream after all. But he didn’t need to know that. “I’m alive because of your kiss.”

“That’s complete nonsense.” 

“So,” he said after a few moments of silence, “I heard something interesting. Did you actually cry when they brought my body back?”

“Who told you that?” I asked as his hand moved to my waist.

“Nicholas.” Of course, it would be Nicholas, wouldn’t it?

“It was a natural reaction to seeing your seemingly lifeless body.” I insisted as I looked down at what he was clutching in the hand that wasn’t on my waist. The necklace that I had cast the protection charm on was wound tightly around his wrist. “I did what any other friend would do.”

“Of course. A friend.” He muttered as if the words had left a foul taste in his mouth.

“Cedric?” 

I glanced at him curiously and any further questions were silenced by his lips. I noticed that this time his hand wasn’t keeping me to him. He was letting me pull away if I wanted to. But I didn’t think I did want to. I turned closer to him to lessen the strain on his neck when – 

“Am I interrupting again?”

I pulled away, this time hiding slightly behind Cedric to avoid looking at his dad. But I would eventually need to address him. Peeking out from behind Cedric’s shoulder I said, “You’re not interrupting at all. I ‘ll leave you two to talk.”

Rising to my feet I gave him a final smile. When I turned to walk away a hand caught my own making me look down at Cedric. 

“Can we talk later?” He asked softly and I nodded.

* * *

The opportunity to talk later hadn’t come. We had rarely even seen each other much because he was swept into the mania of being the Triwizard champion and it appeared to be ticking both him and Nicholas off. It continued until Nicholas suddenly exploded at breakfast. 

“Alright!” Nicholas slammed his hand onto the table as he stood up, the thud of his hand hitting the table resonating through the great hall. The entire hall looked at him, not that he seemed to care. “We need to sort this out now because I am sick and tired of having to give Cedric a pep talk as if we’re fucking fourth years that want to talk to the girl they like but don’t have the balls to. Do you or do you not have feelings for him?”

His eye bore into mine as silence rang through the crowded hall. I swallowed thickly. From the corner of my eye, I could see Cedric laughing at my stunned face.

I stood as well. “Um-”

“Wait a second,” Fred said as he stood up as well. He locked his eyes onto Nicholas. “Just how does Cedric feel about her then?” Cedric straightened up at the new turn the conversation was taking. 

“Exactly,” George followed suit and stood to mirror his twin’s movements. “How is she supposed to know whether he likes her or not if he hasn’t been very clear about what he wants? What exactly are your intentions Diggory?”

I dropped my head into my hands, willing the ground to suddenly open up and swallow me whole. His _intentions, _really?

“That’s not fair!” Nicholas protested, glaring at both twins. “You can’t ambush him with questions when I only asked her one!”

My attention had been fixed onto the three of them as they continued to bicker that I hadn’t noticed Cedric stand from his seat. I was thrown over someone’s shoulder, my hair blocking my view.

"Cedric I-don't-know-your-middle-name Diggory. Put me down this instant!" I punched his back repeatedly as he walked out of the great hall as if I wasn't hurting him in the slightest. "Why are you acting like a Neanderthal brute?"

The doors to the great hall shut behind him and he put me down. I straightened up as he turned to face me. This was the most serious that I had ever seen him look. 

“Now that no one else is going to be listening in I’d really like it is you’d answer the question. Will you go out with me?

He misinterpreted my silence and began to speak. "Right well now that I've humiliated myself I'm going to go tell Nick that I was right and that I’ve ruined a friendship. So let me just say that I'm really sorry so-"

I cut off his rambling. "Yes."

"Really?" He asked uncertainly

"Yes."

He bent his head towards mine as the doors slammed open.

"I'm starting to think that I'll never get to kiss you without anyone interrupting," he muttered under his breath, pouting slightly.


	2. Epilogue: 4 Years Later

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Of course not.” He gave me an affectionate smile. A few moments of silence passed before he asked, “This dream you had, how far in the future was it?”
> 
> “Six years.”
> 
> “That’s the furthest one yet,” he stated. Then he asked, “This dream, was I in it?”

_4 YEARS LATER _

Since the death of Voldemort, my dreams weren’t as horrific as they used to be. Or rather, they weren’t horrific at all, I usually dreamt of embarrassing events, funny events and above all, happy events. It was a thankful change that I welcomed with open arms. 

But one of the biggest changes in my dreams was that sometimes they were set in the far future. I’d shared that information with Cedric over dinner a few days ago and he reasoned that maybe my sight would continue to grow with age. 

Tonight’s dream was set much further than I had seen before; it was set six years in the future. 

_Cedric was sat at the table for breakfast across from me, reading the Daily Prophet. My eyes scanned the date on the newspaper, telling me the date when this was supposed to occur. We were both eating breakfast when Cedric folded the newspaper and put it away. He reached out to take my hand and I looked up at him._

_“What’s the matter, Cedric?” I asked, looking into his concerned eyes. _

_“Are you sure you don’t want me to come along to the hospital?” He rubbed his thumb over the back of the band on my ring finger. _

_“Relax Cedric.” I turned my hand in his and interlinked our fingers together. “I’m sure it’s nothing more than food poisoning – relax.”_

_“And you promise that you’ll owl me as soon as you’ve seen the doctor?”_

_“Well I’ll have to return home first,” I trailed off, seeing the look he was giving me. “Of course I will.”_

_Cedric reassured now, turned to finish his breakfast. I gave him a fond look, never quite able to become annoyed at how overprotective he was sometimes. Feeling the weight of my eyes on him, he looked up. _

_“You didn’t have a dream last night, did –”_

_“**Cedric**!” I was wrong – it **could** become annoying. _

_Cedric eventually left for work and it appeared that I had the day off and so made my way to the hospital. After an unusually short wait in the waiting room, I was called in to see the doctor. After a quick discussion of symptoms and the consumption of a diagnostic potion that the doctor pulled out from the desk, I waited for the results. _

_“If my thoughts are correct,” the doctor explained, setting his wand on the table, “Then the tip of my wand will glow green.”_

_He didn’t specify what it was that he was testing me for and we spent a minute in silence, both of us watching his wand. Sure enough, the wand’s tip glowed green, making the doctor smile. He pocketed his wand, looking up at me with a wide smile._

_“Congratulations Mrs Diggory.”_

_“Con – congratulations?” I repeated, slightly shocked by the doctor behaviour. “Congratulations for what?”_

_“You’re pregnant.” He said, gathering some papers in his hands. “From the time taken for the result to come through, it seems you’re about two months along.”_

_Two months along – two months ago we had been in Paris, for our … honeymoon. _

_“I’m going to start scheduling some check-ups to make sure the foetus is fine.” The doctor handed me the papers he had been collecting – they were leaflets about pregnancy._

_“Um, sure,” I muttered._

_My appointment came to an end and I walked out of the doctor’s office, still slightly dazed. Clutching the pamphlets in my hand I headed into the waiting room, jumping slightly when I felt an arm wrap around my shoulder. Looking up at the owner of the arm, I smiled instantly. _

_“Aren’t you supposed to be at work Cedric?”_

_“I am,” he said, leading me out of the hospital. “But I’m on my lunch break so I thought I’d pop in and see if you’d finished with your appointment.”_

_“More like you were too worried and came to check on me.”_

_“Maybe.” He squeezed my shoulder. “So what did the doctor say?”_

_“The doctor,” I trailed off, clutching the leaflets tighter in my hand. Cedric, only now seeing them, took hold of them._

_“What to expect when you’re expecting,” he read aloud. When he realised what he’d said, his eyes widened. He looked down at me and repeated, “Expecting?”_

_I nodded, “Expecting.”_

_The grin I got in response was breathtaking._

I opened my eyes sleepily, finding myself wrapped around Cedric. Moving to entangle myself from him, I was stopped by an arm tightening around my waist and keeping me trapped against a naked chest. Looking up at Cedric I found him awake, watching me with half-asleep eyes.

“What are you doing awake?” I asked quietly, looking over at the clock. “It’s 3 in the morning.”

“I could ask you the same,” he said just as quietly, running a hand through my hair. “But I’m guessing you had an important dream.”

“You could say that,” I muttered, thinking about the dream. In six years’ time, if things continued as they were now, Cedric and I would be married and starting a family together. “How did you know?”

“I’ve gotten good at picking up on the hints that you’ve had one of those dreams.” His fingers left my hair to trace random patterns along the skin on my back. 

“Hints such as?”

“Such as the fact that whilst you’re having one of those dreams you cling to me much more in your sleep.” As if to emphasise his point he intertwined our bare legs. “Not that I’m complaining.”

“I don’t cling,” I muttered petulantly, against his chest.

“Of course not.” He gave me an affectionate smile. A few moments of silence passed before he asked, “This dream you had, how far in the future was it?”

“Six years.”

“That’s the furthest one yet,” he stated. Then he asked, “This dream, was I in it?”

I raised my head from where it had been resting on his chest to look at him. He met my searching eyes. Cedric wouldn’t admit it, but I’d worked out that any dreams I had of the distant future worried him on the off chance that he wasn’t a part of them or my future. 

“You are,” I confirmed, bringing some relief into his eyes.

“And it was a good dream?”

I smiled softly. “It was perfect, Ced.”


End file.
